What if Drew never confronted Fitz?
by Kirishima737
Summary: During Season 10 Episode 15, a sudden fire alarm prevents Drew from confronting Fitz and Owen about what they did to his brother. Adam is able to calm Drew down and tell Principle Simpson. But a week later, when Drew tells Riley about the incident, an unlikely alliance is formed...


**Scene one.**

(In an alternate timeline, one week after the events of Degrassi Season 10 Episode 15 "My Body is a Cage" Part One, Drew sits alone in the locker room with his practice gear still on. Riley enters the room having forgotten something.)

RILEY

You alright Drew? You look kinda bummed out.

DREW

Nah man, I'm good.

RILEY

Hey, if you're mad about me being the starter again, don't sweat it. You're still a really good player, and the spot will be all yours next season.

DREW

Dude, I don't care about the stupid spot. I had my fun being the starter for the last 5 games.

RILEY

(He sits down next to Drew.)

So then what's the issue?

DREW

It's that dickhead Owen. And his buddy Fitz. They attacked my brother last week, and all they got was a 5-day suspension.

RILEY

Oh damn, what happened?

DREW

So basically, my little brother is trans. He was born as a girl, but he identifies as a boy, and he lives as a boy. Last week, he was hitting on this one girl, and somehow she figured out his secret. Then she outed him to those two bastards, and they beat him up. They kicked him out of the boys' bathroom and threw him into a glass door.

RILEY

Holy fuck man, that's rough.

DREW

Yeah, no kidding. The way they treat LGBT kids here is awful. I thought he'd have a better chance at this school. Maybe we were wrong to come here.

RILEY

Yeah, it's really awful. I feel bad, like really bad, not just for your brother, but for Zane and all the other kids that have to deal with this crap. Owen and his buds make gay jokes all the time and I see how much it hurts Zane, but I don't know what to do.

DREW

Well, you are QB1 and team captain, maybe you could talk some sense into him. Maybe tell him to pick on someone his own size.

RILEY

Yeah, you're right. I should've done that a long time ago. And Drew, I know that you probably figured this out earlier in the year, but I want to tell you the truth myself. I _am_ gay. And Zane _is_ my boyfriend. And it's on me to stand up to Owen, Fitz, and the rest of those jerks. But I can't do it by myself. I need your help man.

DREW

Yeah for sure, what's your plan?

RILEY

Well, even though they're bullies, we can't fight fire with fire. Not yet, at least. Our best bet is to try to talk to them and use words before fists. If push comes to shove, and anything physical goes down, I've got your back.

DREW

Right on bro. But do you really think Owen and Fitz are the types of guys who listen to reason? I don't know, something tells me they won't wanna hear you out.

RILEY

Yeah, I know, it's a longshot. But like I said, that's our best bet. There's no guaranteeing that intimidation will work. Zane told me that beating up a homophobe will only make them more homophobic. So we'll see if we can try to get through to them verbally first. And don't take this the wrong way, but Fitz and Owen are both pretty tough, so if you're thinking about taking either of them on, you might wanna get your weight up.

DREW

Right. When Adam told me what happened, I got so mad that the first thing I tried to do was go fight them. I'm lucky he was able to calm me down otherwise I might've gotten my ass kicked.

RILEY

(He stands up.)

Yeah, I know the feeling. I wasn't kidding back when I told you I used to have a violent streak. Well, I'm gonna jet, but you take care man. And let me know if anything else happens. We should try to find them around lunch tomorrow. Remember, we're gonna try to talk to them first, so don't get testy, and don't do anything hasty.

DREW

(He daps Riley up.)

Yeah, I gotcha. Take care man.

(Riley leaves the locker room. Fade to black.)

**Scene Two.**

(12 pm the next day. Owen and Fitz sit at a lunch table in the cafeteria.)

OWEN

Can you believe this? 5 whole days suspended, AND I had to miss the big game against Eastern Tech? Complete bullshit.

FITZ

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Dude, 5 days is nothing. If anything, we basically got the week off.

OWEN

Yeah, easy for you to say. I'm on the football team. And I'm a starter. We lost that game 28-23, and I bet if I were on the field, we would've won. Maybe I could've prevented one of those touchdowns.

FITZ

(He scoffs and laughs.)

Whatever you say, Mr. Bigshot Middle Linebacker. Anyways, you wanna hit up the Break Room after school? Smoke some joints, scope some chicks?

OWEN

(He begins to agree, but then he suddenly retracts.)

After school? Nah, dude, I got practice. After missing the last week of football, I gotta work twice as hard to make up for what I missed. It's all 'cause of that little bitch Drew. If he hadn't snitched on us, we wouldn't have gotten suspended.

FITZ

(He suddenly realizes something.)

Hey, speaking of Drew, you wanna know what I peeped? Remember like right before the fire drill? When we were throwing the football around? It looked like he was walking towards us. And he looked kinda pissed. His little freakshow sister was tagging along behind him, pulling at his arm like she wanted him to back down.

OWEN

Wait, do you think he was gonna try to press us? That little bastard. Aww man, now I'm definitely gonna lay his ass out in practice today. Let's see if I can't give him a concussion or two.

FITZ

Make that three. Give him one for me too. I probably would've given him one myself if he'd tried to fight me that day.

OWEN

You got it, bro.

(They fist bump.)

FITZ

Wait, is that him right now? With Riley? Didn't they hate each other?

(Drew and Riley approach Owen and Fitz, and they sit down at Owen and Fitz's lunch table. Riley looks hopeful and optimistic, Drew looks stoic and jaded.)

RILEY

Hey guys, how's it goin'?

OWEN

What's good Riley? What're you doing hanging with this loser?

FITZ

Hey Drew, how's it going buddy? How's your sister?

DREW

Are you serious right now? You wanna say that one more time, Fitz?

(He stands up and clenches his fists.)

(Riley stands up and calms Drew down.)

RILEY

Hey, hey, easy, easy. This is exactly what we said we weren't gonna do.

(They both sit back down.)

OWEN

What are you supposed to be? His shrink or something? What are you guys even doing here? Riley, what's going on bro?

RILEY

I'm here on business Owen. I wanted to talk to you and Fitz about what happened last week. You guys beat up Drew's little brother and threw him into a glass door. Not cool.

OWEN

(He snickers and chuckles.)

Drew doesn't have a little brother. Adam's a girl, didn't you hear? And we caught her trying to pee in the boys' bathroom.

FITZ

(In a mocking, sarcastic tone.)

Yeah man, I felt very threatened and unsafe. Anything we did to her was self-defense.

OWEN

(He looks at Riley with a confused expression.)

Besides, what do you care? Isn't Drew the same cocky bastard that tried to take your spot this season?

RILEY

No Owen. This isn't about football. This isn't about who's using which bathroom. This is about the way that you two and your friends treat people who are different. You and your buds make gay jokes in the locker room all the time, and that's really offensive. And to make matters worse, you and Fitz just attacked a trans kid for being trans.

OWEN

(He rolls his eyes and scoffs.)

Dude, get over yourself. You sound like one of those Tumblr SJWs. Did you hit your head in practice or something?

RILEY

Comments like that are a part of the problem, Owen. Whenever you guys make gay jokes or jokes about trans people, it's offensive. It makes those people uncomfortable. Now I can't tell you guys how to think or what to believe, and I'm not trying to, but can you just lay off the locker room jokes and leave people alone? For the sake of the team?

OWEN

And what if I don't feel like it? Besides, you're not innocent yourself. You made plenty of jokes just like the rest of us.

RILEY

Yeah, I know. I was being a bad captain. I wasn't being a leader. You guys have been making jokes all year, and it makes a lot of people feel bad about themselves.

FITZ

For the team? What team? I don't even play football. Why would I care about you and your stupid team? I do whatever I want.

OWEN

(He looks at Fitz.)

Hey, chill bro. The team isn't stupid, it's just this guy and his SJW bullshit.

FITZ

Yeah, what's good with you? Going on about all this gay stuff, makes me think you might be gay too.

RILEY

Well, I've got news for you guys. I am gay. And you guys' behavior has been going on for too long. And Owen, if you got a problem with me being gay or with anybody else at this school, you can either keep it to yourself, or I'm kicking you off the team. Got it?

OWEN

(He rolls his eyes and looks at Fitz.)

Whatever. C'mon bro let's get out of here.

(Owen and Fitz stand up and leave.)

DREW

Well, so much for that plan. Dude, it didn't work! They weren't having it, and I told you they weren't gonna listen to you.

RILEY

Yeah, this kinda blows. But it's all good, okay? Let's just keep calm and wait until they do something else. And when they do, we can either call them out directly, or we can tell Simpson and Armstrong.

DREW

(In an unsure, hesitant tone.)

Alright man, I'm trusting you. Oh, bro, are you tryna lift after practice today? You were right, I definitely gotta get my weight up because clearly, diplomacy didn't work.

RILEY

(The end-of-lunch bell sounds. Riley stands up.)

Yeah, sounds like a plan. But let's go bro; we're gonna be late for Econ.

(Drew stands up, and they exit the cafeteria. Fade to black.)

**Scene Three.**

(Drew and Riley walk out of Economics class. Riley is slightly ahead of Drew and wearing headphones, so he jogs to catch up and taps his shoulder.)

DREW

Hey bro, wait up.

RILEY

Yeah man, what's good?

DREW

I don't know man, all of last period I was thinking about what happened at lunch. Those jerks treat people any way they want, and they think they're untouchable. Man, I just wanna punch Owen in his face for what he did to Adam.

RILEY

I know. Trust me. Every time he makes a gay joke or says something homophobic, I just want to beat his ass right then and there. But we can't. We have to stay calm and stay disciplined. I spent all of last semester taking anger management, and I can't let all my training go to waste. You should do the same, just be chill and try to solve things in a civil way.

DREW

Yeah, no doubt. Alright man, let's head to practice.

(They walk down the hallway and head to the locker room. Fade to black.)

**Scene Four.**

(6 pm that day. Fitz enters the locker room and daps Owen up. Drew, Riley, and other members of the team sit on the benches and change out of their practice gear.)

FITZ

What's good bro? You ready to hit the Break Room?

OWEN

Yeah, sure, but dude it's like 6 pm on a Wednesday. All the _hot_ chicks probably left by now. Only people still there are the ugly chicks and maybe some flamers.

(Riley and Drew look at Owen with looks of anger and disgust. But they both remain calm and resume changing.)

FITZ

Shit, you're right. How bout the ravine, _definitely_ gonna be some baddies there tonight. Plus we can smoke all we want and not get caught.

OWEN

Alright, sounds good. Wait up, I gotta finish changing. Today's practice was brutal. Missing a week really took a toll on me.

FITZ

Shit, speaking of practice, did you lay out the snitch? Give him a few concussions?

OWEN

Nah, didn't get a chance. Today was an Offense day, but I'll get his ass tomorrow. Everyone was flying around today though. Even the Rockette himself Zane had a perfect day.

FITZ

Oh, is that the soccer fag?

(Riley angrily stands up and walks to Fitz.)

RILEY

What the hell did you just call Zane? And why are you even here? You're not on the team.

FITZ

(He gets in Riley's face.)

Didn't you hear me at lunch? I do what the hell I want.

(He shoves Riley and slaps him in the face. Riley shoves Fitz then grabs him by the hoodie and slams him into a locker. Riley pins Fitz to the locker and presses his forearm against Fitz's throat. The members of the team around them clear out and begin clamoring.)

RILEY

You sure you wanna fucking do this, Fitz? I swear to fucking God I will kick your ass right now.

(Owen steps in to try to help Fitz, but Drew stands up and intercepts him. He hits Owen in the face with a sucker punch, and he pushes Owen into a locker.)

DREW

Why don't you mind your own business, Owen? This is between Fitz and Riley. Let your buddy fight his own battles for a change.

(Drew and Owen begin to scuffle, wrestling around the locker room, each throwing reckless punches left and right.)

OWEN

(With a bloodied nose, wincing and panting.)

What the hell's your problem?

DREW

(Also panting, with a devilish smile.)

My problem? You assholes attacked my little brother for no reason and you're not even sorry. Now I'm gonna kick your ass. And Riley's gonna kick Fitz's ass too. You and Fitz both finally picked on someone your own size, and now you two dickheads are gonna know how it feels to be completely powerless.

(Drew pushes Owen into another locker and lands a few body shots. The four boys continue fighting each other. Fitz is able to land a few hits on Riley, but he is ultimately overpowered and beaten down. Drew and Owen seem to be evenly matched until Riley steps in and joins Drew in fighting Owen. The two boys manage to beat Owen down, and eventually the other members of the team who are clamoring and excitedly watching this whole affair step in to separate the three and break the fight up. Riley punches a locker and angrily storms out, while Drew sits down with a smirk of satisfaction.)

**Scene Five. **

(8 am the next morning. Riley is noticeably upset and is sulking through the hallway, Drew runs up to him.)

DREW

Yo bro, how fucking good did it feel to finally give those guys what they deserve?

RILEY

I'm not gonna lie, it felt good, but was it really worth it?

DREW

Of course it was, we totally kicked their asses. We showed them what happens when you mess with someone who can actually fight back.

RILEY

Yeah, I know, but I didn't want to fight them. And something tells me that this isn't over.

(Drew and Riley notice a small crowd of students down the hall gathered around what appears to be Riley's locker. Riley jogs to his locker to find the words 'Riley is a faggot' written in large capital letters in white permanent marker.)


End file.
